Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday reacted to the Centre's decision to abrogate Article 370, which gave special rights to Jammu and Kashmir, saying, "This nation is made by its people, not plots of land."
Taking to Twitter, a day after Home Minister Amit Shah moved the motion in the Rajya Sabha to revoke the controversial Article, the Gandhi scion said, "National integration isn’t furthered by unilaterally tearing apart J&K, imprisoning elected representatives and violating our Constitution."
"This abuse of executive power has grave implications for our national security," he further said.
Congress has appeared to be a divided house on the subject. While P Chidambaram, the former home minister, and Ghulam Nabi Azad, the leader of the Opposition, have torn into the Centre over its decision, Mumbai chief Milind Deora and Congress Working Committee (CWC) member Deepender Hooda have supported the abolition of the contentious article.
UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi is yet to react.
On Tuesday, Amit Shah said in the Lok Sabha that Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Aksai Chin are part of Jammu and Kashmir and that Kashmir Valley is an integral part of the country.
Moving a resolution for abrogating some provisions of Article 370 and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill 2019, Shah said there has been a long-standing demand for giving Union Territory status to Ladakh which was fulfilled by the Narendra Modi government.
"Kashmir is an integral part of India, there is no doubt over it. When I talk about Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan occupied Kashmir and Aksai Chin are included in it," he said.
(With inputs from PTI)
